I met with Joel of Freestone Peach Designs while sitting on a couch in the middle of the busy floor of another jewelry event. He introduced himself, shook my hand, and then unzipped his backpack to withdraw three small bundles, each wrapped in a piece of various colored flannel.

Inside each bundle was a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted Freestone Peach cuff bracelet: the works of wearable art that we’ll be talking about today.Joel’s personal history goes a long way towards explaining how he came to develop such a captivating vision: he’s had quite a journey to get where he is today.

A formal Navy company commander who is fluent in Japanese, Joel has studied architecture, business, and healthcare administration, lived all over the US and in Japan (four separate times) and worked in construction, project planning, and served in the Navy.

After the conclusion of his military career, Joel enrolled in business school to pursue the next phase of his life. He picked up some work with a Japanese construction company, and then inspiration struck.

My favorite line of Joel’s artist bio: Little did he know that he went to business school to become an artist.

Like the pieces of wood that he transforms, Joel needed to be shaped by life in order to be ready to found Freestone Peach Designs. In his own words: My art is a convergence of every place that I have lived.

To create his one of a kind Freestone Peach designs, Joel collects wood that would otherwise be destroyed; he harvests from non-producing trees slated to be burned or worm-eaten scraps, the weathered limbs of trees that would otherwise be done with fruitful life.

Joel sets the cracks and fissures in this ruptured wood with gemstones: uneven, fractured, gemstones that otherwise may not have ever been used for jewelry.

Thanks to Freestone Peach Design’s unique manufacturing processes, these two organic materials – both unwanted on their own – join to become something wonderful, fresh, and new.The piece above features peach wood set with opals. I found the flash of the opal’s fire to be utterly captivating against the grain of the peach wood.

Joel fits the stones and the wood so perfectly together that the final product appears to be something grown, rather than something carefully created by human hands. This one features peach wood with Kingman turquoise and copper.

His design aesthetic is strongly influenced by his experience with the Japanese culture. He speaks often of his dedication to the principles of the Shibui aesthetic: Simplicity, Implicitness, Modesty, Silence, Naturalness, Everydayness, and Imperfection.

What do you think of these designs, darlings? I’m head over heels – the idea of making something beautiful out of wood that would otherwise just be destroyed is such a wonderful metaphor, and the final product is stunning.

A huge thanks to Joel of Freestone Peach Designs for meeting with me and allowing me to photograph his beautiful work. For inquiries, please contact Joel directly at freestonepeachdesigns@gmail.com.

Yellow gold is such a wonderful metal: warm, buttery, sunny against the skin. But you know what else is great? Good old sterling silver. It’s bright, it’s fresh, and it can shine like nobody’s business.

Today’s edition of Treat Yo’self is all about stunning silver under $300.

When I look at Judy Geib’s work, I feel like I can imagine her as a child, filling notebooks with infinitely complicated doodles. Beautiful doodles, of course. Creative and light, so effusive as to almost float off the page.

That’s the first thing pictured when I looked at these two Judy Geib necklaces: two beautiful doodles being peeled off of the page and magically turning into precious metal. I’m not sure if that’s an image that will make sense to anyone else, but that’s what my brain does with these pieces.

This first Judy Geib necklace is made of airy silver pieces delicately connected by tiny 18k gold chain links, with one lovely bezel set sleeping beauty turquoise. Isn’t it cool beyond all reason? The color contrast of the mixed metals, the geometry of the floaty individual elements, the eclectic feel of the piece as a whole.

The necklace is versatile, as these two helpful shadow lades will now demonstrate. At 40 inches, it can be worn long and lean or doubled over to created a layered look.

Which way do you prefer: long or doubled?

Judy Geib necklace #2 is 18k gold with several deliciously green emeralds adding an extra punch of color to the look. Geib’s signature aesthetic is clear when you look at the two pieces: loopy, lacy lightness abounds. I love the colors happening here between the rich emeralds and the buttery yellow 18k gold.

This emerald and gold necklace is much shorter than the first necklace we looked at today, only 16 inches. This one’s not meant to be doubled.

So there you have it. One silver and turquoise beauty, one emerald and yellow gold. You know I’m going to ask it because I always do: which of these two Judy Geib necklaces would you choose if you could only choose one?

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I visited the January DC Big Flea and had a wonderful time there scouring the aisles for treasures. I’ll tell you about the Big Flea soon, but right now we’re going to talk about my dates for the Flea: noted jewelry purveyors Jessica and Jason Sitko.

Jessica and Jason own the fabulous Trademark Antiques, which you’re already familiar with if you do much hunting for antique jewelry on Etsy or Ruby Lane.

I can confirm firsthand that in addition to having an incredible eye, Jessica and Jason are extremely nice and really fun to walk a show with.

I also feel like we are kindred spirits because J & J’s background looks a lot like my current day job situation: before moving away and focusing more intently on their jewelry business, they were both DC-area professionals with very DC-like jobs.

Trademark Antiques carries a fantastic assortment of antique jewelry, from pretty little rings at affordable price points to spectacular one-of-a-kind masterpieces. The only reason I don’t own anything from them is that I can never pick just one piece to buy.

I’m head over heels for these snakes. This is also a great example of Trademark Antiques’ photography: their Instagram is a must-follow, in my opinion.

This Art Nouveau necklace with floral design and chrysoprase stones is just beautiful. Pieces like this are great because, while you can clearly feel the Art Nouveau aesthetic, it’s easily wearable with a contemporary look. Don’t you love the color of chrysoprase?

Trademark Antiques is particularly well known for their spectacular conversion pieces, which are pieces of jewelry that have been converted from one form into another. The rings above are all converted antique stickpins (and could they possibly be prettier??).

I could stare at this turquoise and enamel bracelet all day. A riot of gold and blue and white, just waiting to adorn a lucky wrist. It’s also posed on a beautiful old book, as if I needed any more reasons to adore Jessica and Jason.

This sweet little guy appeared recently on Trademark Antiques’ Instagram and everyone lost their minds over him (for good reason). He’s 14k gold with soulful garnet eyes. Do you think he looks more like a French bulldog or a Boston terrier?

This Victorian brooch looks like a seashell, but it’s actually a carefully carved banded agate. Such an incredible piece.

This killer Edwardian necklace has been at Trademark Antiques for a while. I know this because I am passionately in love with it and I like to visit its listing periodically. I’m crazy for everything about it: its sinuous silhouette, its crisp Greek key filigree details, its delicious old European center diamond. It’s a perfect piece.

As you can see, Trademark Antiques features a glorious and large inventory of antique jewelry from the easily wearable to the utterly jaw-dropping. If you like what you’ve seen here, get on over to their website ASAP.

All images and info in this post are thanks to Trademark Antiques. To purchase any of the pieces above, please visit Trademark Antiques on Etsy or Ruby Lane.

I don’t always pay enough attention to mid-century jewelry, between my love for the geometry of Art Deco, the froth of Edwardian, and the quirk and mystery of Victorian and Georgian (and, of course, the lure of edgy contemporary).

This 1950s turquoise and diamond necklace is here to remind me that a lot of things worth paying attention to happened between Art Deco and the 1970’s.

The central turquoise and diamond necklace further suspends a glamorous fringe of nine turquoise drops adorned with 13.90 carats of diamonds (216 pave-set diamonds, and 8 round diamonds). The necklace is on the shorter side, just 15.5 inches long.

The auction listing for this vintage turquoise and diamond necklace said that it was “property of a Palm Beach lady” which sounds just about perfectly accurate to me. A Palm Beach lady who attended some really glamorous parties, I’ll bet.

I have something very cool for you today, my dears: a gold wire and rich glorious gold-inlaid Iranian turquoise necklace.

This spectacular 14 karat gold wire necklace dates to the Art Nouveau period; it was made in the early 1900s. Which is amazing, considering how elaborate the majority of this piece is.

At first glance, I assumed that this would be choker length, but it’s quite a bit longer than that: it’s nearly 20 inches. I wonder how flexible the wire is: if it lays flat, or if it is more firmly fixed in curvature.

Isn’t it incredible? Just look at that intricate wire-work. So beautiful and interesting.

And, of course, the stones! I said it was an Iranian turquoise necklace, so here is the turquoise.

Antique, gold-inlaid turquoise, to be specific. The description says that the gold inlay forms Arabic symbols, but doesn’t give any information about provenance.

I assume that the gold-inlaid turquoise predates the necklace? I would absolutely love to know the story behind those symbols.

What do you think of this beauty? Would you wear it?

And more importantly: does anyone think that might be able to offer some more insight into what the history behind those gold-inlaid turquoise stones could be? I’m desperately curious.